well, you "doubt." kobe was a ballhog when they traded shaq and didn't have the talent. but then they got pau and bynum improved and he's allowing them to get shots. if tracy was healthy this year, i think he would be aiming more for 7-8 assists rather than points.
Ron better than tracy? no way. He seems to have more fire, but skill wise it's not even close. Granted...all this is based on a healthy Tracy....not the crap we've been putting up with this season. TMAC could finish games.....for the most part, Ron gets trigger happy... Tonight though, he had a huge assist to Shane.
You know, I've always wondered about T-Mac's effect on his teammates. He demands the ball so much it's so hard for others to get into a groove. So although you can say that he's never had a good enough supporting cast. But on the other hand, how much of that was his own doing? I mean, Artest also does his own 1-on-1 crap at times, but it's not nearly the frequency as T-Mac. He's also a very reliable 3 point shooter, something I never realized before this season. That's so important in terms of spacing. And even though he doesn't draw as much of a double team, he plays well with others. Ever notice that for the first time in FOREVER, the Rockets now have a balanced scoring lineup where everyone shoots?
luther head had a GREAT reg. season one year playing with tmac (before disappearing in the playoffs). shane battier had great shooting fg% the past few years with tmac. yao had his best #s with tmac. guys like jon barry and bob sura complimented playing with tmac. before this year, tracy has been a great player for us.
There's a difference between 3-point specialists and players who could actually do more than one thing on the court though. And T-Mac hasn't really played "with" another good player since perhaps his Raptors days. That's a long time, and is it really just a coincidence that the moment he stops playing everyone else started looking much better?
Is Artest better than McGrady.... Who would you rather have..... These questions are wayyy too vague to answer definitively. This year? The answer is pretty obvious: Artest. Who is the better player? McGrady, easily. I'm not really sure what establishing these cheap points proves. You'll have to ask the writer for his explanation on that.
that this version of tmac stopped playing and we got better? not at all. he sucked, couldn't get shots, shot 2-11 damn near half the time, didn't play D and blew breakaway dunks. he was a huge cloud over the season. however, it was pretty clear the last 4 years that when tmac didn't play, we had no clue. yao could be playing, but it wouldn't matter. usually because of the same "can't score in the last 6 minutes" thing that tends to haunt us even now. when tmac played, we won a lot, even with last years more versatile team. mainly because even using all of the possessions, he knows how to run an offense and then we let the D take care of itself. we can all agree tmac blew this year, and most all of us can agree the tmac situation being resolved has been a huge help for chemistry. but lets not rewrite history. tmac putting up 30/7/7 and shutting down dirk wasn't why our role players had their asses handed to them in the dallas series. while we can argue whether a ball dominator hurts the offense, he actually ran a damn good offense with that same squad that year. they just didn't have what it took in the postseason. and i doubt tmac made yao shoot 42% against okur or made yao make boozer look like a hall of famer in the next series. and i don't think he injured yao and alston for last year. it's not like the difference between a landry/scola PF rotation and a juwon/hayes pf rotation is playing with tmac. unfortunately the healthy tmac played with the weak supporting casts, and now the very good supporting cast got the broken down tmac.
Mentally sound T-Mac is better than Artest. Pity we will never see it. In this situation yes Artest is a better fit but in the vaginas defense I don't think Artest could of got the same regular season results as T-Mac did when he first got here.
Artest flipped a switch. He was not playing this way before McGrady went down. Those 2 must really not like one another.
Nobody is denying TMac is more talented. But TMac is not a 'winner'. 1. TMac is always a ball stopper always. Artest sometimes. 2. Even when TMac assists, the ball is stopped until the very last second before his assist. Artest mostly lets the ball flow in the offense. 3. Artest affects BOTH ends of the court. 4. Artest's style and hustle encourages teammates. TMac's style lulls teammates to sleep. 5. Artest draws fouls ...TMac drawls spliffs. 6. Artest gladly deferrs to Yao and even can play off Yao to hit open J's. TMac and Yao never seem like they are on the same page. It's always run one play for Yao then one for TMac. I've seen the light. Keep Artest - trade TMac. In the playoffs, if we need a big play to close out a game in crunch time ...I'd rather have Artest than TMac at any point (except that one time against SA!!! ...but that wasn't the playoffs).
artest, at this point in their respective careers, artest is clearly a better player. mac has lost a step, and is older, and has more mileage a la jermaine o'neal.
I have to add that Artest is better at the entry pass and also passes to Yao on the repost more often.
Dude, put down the axe. All this stuff about him not being totally healthy, not having the talent we have now, etc. etc. When it comes down to it, you know what these are? excuses Tracy never won a damn thing. Artest has been straight up BALLING lately. T-Mac might be a better scorer, I don't know. He always took plenty of shots to get his numbers. What I do know is this team is looking better right now with Artest than it looked with Tracy in a long, long time.
